To clarify. That organ that's cranked way up is TC playing a Vox Continental... He jumped and screamed until they finally got him a B3. He hated the Continental. He said that Garcia and Weir had guitar tone that was golden... The Vox sounded like cheap chrome in comparison. This concert is referenced to give a fine example of why he didn't like it. He would complain to Bear and Owsley would say, "a good craftsman never blames his tools." Which would chap TC off. He would point out that if Jerry complained about his tone Owsley would bend over backwards to address it. Anyway, he said after much agitation they got him the B3.
Most of the time when TC played Pigpen either played along on his B3, or focused on harmonica and vocals, sometimes even grabbing a conga drum.

Dupree's is killer and The Eleven with any vocals would have been a contender.

the Caution on this sliced my mind into a trillion slivers of wow, this is the goddamn shit ,primal Dead blazing through sonic chaos,good sound quality as well....

Anyone who has this show, I would appreciate a copy. I'll reward you with any 60's show of your choice.

Like others have addressed this show suffers from an awful mix - Garcia's guitar is way too low during Dark Star and at times the vocals are completely inaudible. But if you can get past this, you're in for a treat - here we have one of the better DS>SS>11>Lovelight combos of early '69, the Eleven and Lovelight being particularly awesome.

The mix straightens out quite a bit for the second set - where we get an explosive Alligator>Caution - probably the must-hear territory of this show. The Caution, while a bit on the short side, is easily a contender for one of the greatest ever - this hits like a million pound freight train! You'll being playing air guitar for sure.

my favorite next to dark star is the elevenand this one rips.

The night before is the night they lost bobby's sound. Tonight you can indeed hear it.

is something you would play for someone who you think might understand the dead

These shows at the Avalon mark the bands first attempts at the new 16 track technology. It failed, as there is no sign of Weirs guitar in the mix and TC is turned up WAAAY too loud! The shows are great, but the mix went south. Fortunately the problem was fixed by the time the February/March Fillmore shows rolled around and gave us Live/Dead and the Fillmore West Concerts 1969 box set.

Historic, but flawed.

First let me say there is three minutes and fifty one seconds of FEEDBACK performed live. That in and of it's self warrants the download, if you've ever been there you know what I am talking about.

About the rest:

I always liked Pigpen's and TC's organ sounds.

On The Eleven the organ mix is little out front, but hey, it's not bad. 1,2,3-2,2,3,-3,2,3,-1,2.

Sometimes the mixes are screwy, but the playing is not. This recording is a screwy mix recording (SMR) for the first 5 tracks.

Turn On Your Love Light's mix is bass, organ, guitar. Drums and vocals are mixed way in the back till about 1:42 into it. The Organ remains high in the mix. But Jerry's guitar sound is fantastic.

The mix on Dupree's Diamond Blues, Doin' that Rag,Cosmic Charlie is fine (normal)

ALLIGATOR! I love this song. The gongs at the end are cool. Pigpen's vocals are too far back in th mix for me, but the playin' is happening...Jerry and Bob's vocals are mixed so you can hear them fine. Billy and Mickey play their A$$ off. Alligator runnin' around my door....all you need...all you got to have...

Alligator>drums>Alligator>Caution>Feedback>And we bid you good night. WOW! Pigpen singing "And We Bid You Good Night" with the boys.

There is a loud hum early in And We Bid You Good Night, and is cut off before the end of the song.

5 star show, 3 star mix/recording = 4 stars?

Eat, drink be merry and listen to THE GRATEFUL DEAD.

Thanks for the love.

weird {bad} sound here.....hmm....more later

not bad--but that organ is distorted and cannot be TC!
it may be a hammond organ or the continental...
'yucky'
the band sounds distant and there is an unusual room sound as far as the lead guitar goes---

I'm on Lovelight right now, and the high-mixed organ sounds the same to me. I don't think it's an over-dubbed track. I think Pig and TC are both playing organ, but TC is way up in the mix and Pig only plays from time to time... PS this show is quite nice. Lots of energy and fun fun fun. Good set list too, it's interesting to watch the song rotation change as you move from '66 to '69.

what did pigpen really play when T.C was behind the keys too? you only hear one keyboard...so should i think pigpen only play some percussion with his congas. I need an answer about pigpen's role when T.C was there.

Definitely sounds like an added track on the first part of DS. Credible jamming, but the synth sound is not like other shows from this era. But then I could be wrong as the keys at the end seem less fake.
We're picking nits here but its fun.....

This version of the Eleven is pretty sick. I know the Dead has said that it was difficult to play live but I think it would have down well to have made a comeback at some point. The jamming is just furious and intense. It reminds me a lot of some of the sick ABB Mountain Jams with Duane. This version is nothing but stellar and you cant go wrong with DS>Stephen>Tell>11>Lovelight and so on .. check it out.

There are sound issues here. Seems like the vocals are barely present until sometime in Lovelight when they get fixed. As far as the keyboard sound goes .. Im assuming thats Constanten on keys, maybe making some interesting sounds. Its also possible that, again, the mix is screwy and there might be another version going around with a better mix.

as previous reviewers noted, there is some strange overlay of guitar-like keyboardy-synthy track (on Dark Star mainly as i recall). it is not an easy call; it could possibly be a weird miking issue, or some unusual occurence at a show (the Boys did a lot of social gigs, "everyone get on the stage and bang on something!".

Or, some musician taping themself, doing a pretty good job of jamming with the Dead.

But that was only on like one tune, so that "distraction" isn't there afterward.

That aside, this show is fuckin' ....wow. total melt-down, very innovative, exploratory. new takes on all the Dream Team of Dead tunes.

This was the first bootleg I ever came across and I don't remember there being any keyboard on it like this. Ever.
I think someone may have added a track.
Any thoughts? Am I completely off base?

However, this concert is, to me, one of the finest ever when the Dead were less of an institution than they were an innovative, compelling, and absolutely unique musical experience. Their art shines in this concert like in few others, to this degree.